Call of the Wild
by kabear
Summary: Ah, the ever cliche camping trip. Hot chocolate and leeches included.
1. Chapter 1

Call of the Wild  
  
Chapter I  
  
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Standard disclaimer applies. I decided to go ahead and try chapters. . . since my other stories were pretty long. Also, this story could use help, I know- so please review with comments, etc. Its appreciated.  
  
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Jane looked wistfully out her bedroom window, then back at her best friend- who was completely immersed in the latest episode of Sick Sad World.  
  
"That's it Daria, time to go."  
  
Daria turned around to look at Jane. "Huh?"  
  
"We've done absolutely nothing outside this summer. Time to fix that."  
  
"Outside?"  
  
"Yes. The great outdoors. Hiking, camping, animals, fire-building, whatever. Let's just go."  
  
"Jane, I don't do. . . 'outside.'"  
  
"Well, ya do now," she said, dragging Daria out of her room and downstairs towards the basement where Mystik Spiral was casually lounging, or 'taking a break' from their tough practice regime.  
  
"Yo, Trent, do we still have that tent?"  
  
Trent looked at Jane and Daria, confused. "Uh, yeah. I think so. Check the bottom of the closet."  
  
Jane ran to the closet and began wildly throwing miscellaneous items out of it in search of the tent, so she didn't hear when Trent asked:  
  
"You guys going camping or something?"  
  
Since Jane couldn't hear, Daria had no choice but to answer Trent through her blush. "Yeah, Nature-Girl over here felt the urge to get some woodsy time in before the end of the summer."  
  
"That's cool."  
  
Jesse looked at her, then to Jane- still searching through the closet. "I like the woods."  
  
Both Daria and Trent gave him odd looks. Jesse didn't notice.  
  
"Aha!" Jane came up with the nylon bag that held the Lane family private bungalow. She turned to her brother. "Sleeping bags?"  
  
"Uh, I think there's one in my room. I'll go get it." He left and returned a minute later with two sleeping bags, one red and one blue. "The red one kinda smells."  
  
Jesse looked back at Jane. "Where are you gonna go?"  
  
"Outdoors. Away. Camping."  
  
"How are you gonna get there?"  
  
Jane looked fuddled. "Uh, Trent?"  
  
Trent's eyebrows went up.  
  
Daria could see the gleam appear in Jane's eye.  
  
"Why don't you come with us?" She said, eyeing the band.  
  
"I can't, gotta get the Tank fixed this weekend," Max said, glad to avoid the trip.  
  
"Yea, me neither. Kids and stuff," Nick chimed in.  
  
"Oh, too bad," Jane said, obviously never expecting them to come along. "How 'bout you two?" She asked, looking directly at Jesse.  
  
"Yeah, man. I love camping. I even have a sleeping bag."  
  
She turned to Trent, quite aware of Daria staring at him, face still red.  
  
"Uh, I guess. I'm gonna need gas money."  
  
"We can handle that, right Daria?"  
  
"Uh. . . sure."  
  
Jesse stood up. "I know a really cool spot up in the mountains. It's right next to a lake. You guys don't have a boat or anything, do you?"  
  
Trent looked at him as if he had just asked if the Lane's owned a small castle in Bulgaria. "No."  
  
"That's ok. It's even warm enough to go swimming."  
  
"Right!" Jane decided it was time to get going. "So, Jesse- go home and get your stuff, Trent- drive Daria home so she can clear this with her parents and grab the necessary essentials. I'm gonna scrounge around here and see what else I can come up with. Oh, and could you guys stop by the store and get food and stuff?"  
  
Daria and Trent looked at each other, both sharing the opinion that this was going to be way too much work than it was worth. But Jane was determined. She stared at them, then addressed all three.  
  
"Shoo! Get going!" She said, beginning to usher them up the stairs. Jesse started up the stairs, and Trent and Daria followed. Her best friend turned around and glared at her as she went up the steps, practically tripping over her own feet. 


	2. Chapter 2

When Daria and Trent returned with Jesse in tow, Jane had quite a pile of stuff on the Lane front lawn. Daria looked at all the crap they had in the car now- between Jesse's stuff, her stuff, and the food they bought- there was no way it was going to all fit inside the trunk. Jane apparently came to the same conclusion when they started to get out of the car with all their things.  
  
"Okay. We can do this. Crap in the trunk, and blankets in the back. It'll just be," she winked at Daria, "'cozy' for whoever's sitting in the back."  
  
After a painstakingly slow process of shoving everything into Trent's midget sized vehicle, the foursome was on their way; Trent and Daria up front, and Jane and Jesse in the back, looking extremely 'comfortable'. After they had been driving for about two hours, Trent pulled over to the side of the road.  
  
"Jesse, man. Your shift. I'm gonna run us off the road pretty soon. And you know where we're going- right?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." They began to switch places. Jane sat up.  
  
"C'mon, Daria- we're switching, too. There's no way I'm gonna rely on your verbal skills to keep Jesse awake at the wheel." Daria glared at Jane as she reluctantly switched spots with her.  
  
There were so many blankets and other soft objects crammed in the back seat with them that Daria was smashed completely up against Trent- bodies touching from shoulder to ankle. Daria went tense, and her cheeks broke out in that pesky rash yet again. Trent yawned and tapped Jesse on the shoulder. "Yo man, how long till we're there?"  
  
"Uh, a while?"  
  
"Right," he managed to rumble, before he was completely passed out; head resting on one of the sleeping bags rolled up on his left side.  
  
Jane grinned back at Daria. "I know he looks bony, but he can be a really great pillow."  
  
"Shut up, Jane." Daria replied, cheeks still flushed, arms crossed. She leaned her head on the pile of soft fluffy stuff to her right and closed her eyes, hoping she could just ignore the fact that she was so close to Trent. She found this to be extremely difficult to do, especially when he fidgeted and moved around in his sleep. After fifteen minutes of excessive discomfort mixed with joy and overwhelming sensory excitement, Daria had reason to believe she would never fall asleep. Trent rolled towards her in his sleep, resting his head in the crook of her neck. She tried to stir to the point of waking him, so he wouldn't be embarrassed when he did wake up, but only succeeded in making him shift further into her neck to the point that his lips were partly against her skin, his warm breath on her throat. "Oh god," she thought, then squeezed her eyes shut and tried to keep from shuddering whenever he exhaled.  
  
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Trent had that weird dream about Daria again. It was weird enough to be dreaming about his kid sister's best friend, but she always acted so weird in the dream. Not to mention the fact that there were two of her. The first Daria looked like she always looked, but acted more like her annoying sister. She would demand that they go to some place called Chez Pierre, and then ask repeatedly whether or not he thought she was cute. The other Daria would never actually speak to him; she just stood at a distance, watching him with the other Daria while crying silently. He always felt like he needed to just shove the annoying Daria out of the way and comfort crying Daria, but whenever he tried, annoying Daria would start trying to pull him the other direction, and crying Daria would just turn away and start shrinking. But not this time. This time he managed to break free of annoying Daria's grasp by telling her that the pimple on her forehead made her look extremely un-cute. He ran to crying Daria, grabbing her shoulders from the back, and managed to pull her back up to normal size. When he turned her around, she was still silently crying, but there was such an expression of fear and surprise on her face that he gasped and let go of her. Suddenly all her clothes were gone and she tried desperately to cover herself up, quickly sitting down and curling up into a ball to hide her shame as silent sobs shook her body.  
  
Before Trent had a chance to tell her it was okay, that she didn't have to be ashamed, the car stopped and he heard Janey trying to wake him up. His face was pressed up to something soft and warm, and when he opened his eyes, only one of them could see; the other was pressed shut. It took him moment or two to come out of his sleep haze and realize that his face was pressed into Daria's neck.  
  
"Yo, you up Trent?"  
  
He quickly pulled his head up from its resting place. "Yeah, I'm up." He turned to look at Daria, who was now looking at him. "Uh, sorry- I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that."  
  
"That's ok. It was like wearing a slightly fleshy scarf."  
  
Trent smiled and scratched his head, feeling embarrassed- though he didn't know why. That dream creeped him out. It was like it was supposed to mean something, but he didn't know what. "Yeah." He turned to the door as Jesse opened it, trying to catch the blankets that spilled out. He had driven them to a really cool camping site, actually. It was a large clearing, with woods on all sides except where the road came in and led to the lake. There was plenty of room for tents between the trees, though, and nearby a picnic table and a fire pit with a grill over it with an old pile of firewood nearby. "This could actually be okay," he thought to himself, then climbed out of the car to help unload.  
  
Digging the tents out of the back, Jane threw the Lane tent to Trent- she and Daria would take the nice one Daria had found in her basement. As complex as tents could be they found it surprisingly easy to set up, which was a good thing- seeing as how it was already getting pretty dark. They threw half of the sleeping bags and blankets into it, then dedicated themselves to starting a fire; it was getting unpleasantly chilly.  
  
Both Daria and Jane had nicely toasted hot dogs on sticks when the boys finally reappeared, looking frustrated and tired.  
  
"That tent sucks." Trent said, then went to the car and pulled a sweatshirt out of the backseat.  
  
"Yeah. It was already missing a pole, and then we accidentally poked a hole in it with one of the tent spikes." Jesse had already begun to stick a hotdog of his own in the fire while he explained. Trent joined them, and they feasted on hot dogs and marshmallows while it got darker.  
  
"I guess me and Jesse'll just sleep out here next to the fire. Should be okay."  
  
"You guys could squish into the tent with us, I'm sure we could manage," Jane said through a mouthful of burnt marshmallow, winking at Daria.  
  
"Nah, that's alright. We'll be fine." Trent had noticed Jesse warming up to Jane's incessant invitations, and didn't feel like encouraging that behavior. "Right, Jesse?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, man. It'll be cool."  
  
"Yes, it will be," Daria said, shivering. It was a lot colder than any of them had expected, and Daria was ready to go climb under all those blankets in the tent. She looked at the fire, then at Jane. "Though I dread leaving this stimulating conversation, I'm gonna go try and catch some shut eye."  
  
"I'm with you, amiga. I'm freezing my ass off out here."  
  
Jesse looked at Trent with scorn, thinking of how cold they were gonna be out here. 


	3. Chapter 3

When the girls got up the next morning, they were both still freezing cold and neither had slept very well. Luckily, when they clamored out of the tent, Trent and Jesse were already awake, and had boiled some water over the fire for hot chocolate.  
  
"Good thinking boys. Was it old man winter that woke you both up so early?"  
  
"Its amazing how hard it is to sleep when your entire body becomes one giant ice cube," Trent replied coldly.  
  
"Yeah." Jesse was still wrapped in a blanket, leaning over the fire.  
  
"Well, tonight you guys should cram in the tent with us- we could use the extra body heat," Jane decided, eyeing Jesse suspiciously.  
  
"Yeah," Daria wasn't fighting this one. "Even though we were in the tent, it was still like trying to sleep in an ice cave."  
  
Trent caught Jesse staring back at his sister. "That's cool with me," he pointed to them, "as long as you two sleep on opposite sides of the tent.  
  
"Whatever, bro," Jane smiled back at him. He knew she was plotting but he wasn't sure what he could do about it. He watched her give Daria a wink, and shrugged it off figuring it was some inside joke he was on the outside of.  
  
Jesse carefully took the hot water off the grill and poured some into everyone's mugs. He waited until they were all seated around the fire to ask his question. "So, what are we doing today?"  
  
Everyone instinctively looked at Jane.  
  
"What? I was just the one that got us out here."  
  
"Exactly," Daria said as the all stared at Jane accusingly.  
  
"Well. . . we could try hiking. It would at least get us moving- and that would get us warm, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Daria agreed, trying to look on the bright side- not a usual thing for her to do, but she was willing to go to desperate measures to fight off the cold seeping in through her jacket. "And it looks like its getting warmer. We'll be fine in a couple of hours."  
  
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After a very nutritious breakfast of hot chocolate, crackers, and more hot dogs, the gang was about ready to take off into the great unknown.  
  
"Wait, I need my sketchbook," Jane yelled as she ran back to the tent. When she got back, Jesse was recalling his previous hiking experience.  
  
"Oh. Right, I remember that trail. It's really long." He looked forlorn. "Like, really long."  
  
"Then do you know of any other trails, Jesse? Shorter trails?" Daria asked, as one might ask a six-year-old who had just spilled their ice cream on the sidewalk.  
  
"Hmm," he had to think about it for a minute or two. . . "Oh! Yeah. There's one right over there," he said, pointing to a place opposite from where their tent was in the clearing, where the bushes looked a little thinner. "It goes around the lake." He thought for a moment. "It's not too long. It only took us a couple of hours last time."  
  
"Right then. Let's go, campers!" Jane said, marching through the bushes, eager to get moving.  
  
Daria trudged after her, disappointed she had forgotten her jeans. The bushes and plants were covered in thorns and she could feel the inevitability of her legs being covered in scratches, some of which would probably draw blood. Trent and Jesse lagged behind, still groggy from waking up so early.  
  
"Jane, just out of curiosity, what exactly inspired this venture into the great outdoors?"  
  
"Just seemed like the right thing to do. Like insulting Upchuck, or mocking the fashion club. It's just something one must do."  
  
"Yes, but at least those activities are enjoyable. And don't cause any blood loss." Daria paused to glance at her legs, well marked with scratches by now, and at least one of them bleeding.  
  
"Huh?" Jane turned around to look at Daria. She couldn't help from laughing. Her leg was bleeding, and she had little leaves and other chunks of foliage stuck to her skirt and jacket add to it a couple of twig sticking out of her hair. And she'd only been hiking for what- ten minutes?  
  
"It's not funny, Jane."  
  
She tried to stop laughing. "I know it's not. I guess it's just that your non-descript clothing doesn't even bode well with members of nature. Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine."  
  
"Yes. Very woodsy. Rugged. Marty Stouffer would be proud."  
  
"You really did spend your entire childhood watching bad TV, huh?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
"Before you ask. . . No; I will not be setting any traps to sedate animals so you can hide in the shrubs and sketch them 'in their natural state' when the come out of their comatose."  
  
"C'mon, Daria. Where's your sense of sportsmanship?" Jane grinned at her wilderness-challenged friend.  
  
By now the boys had finally caught up.  
  
"Why'd we stop?"  
  
"We didn't," Jane said, starting forward again- afraid if they stopped the boys for too long they would fall asleep in a comfy bush beside the trail.  
  
They trekked steadily along for another half an hour before coming upon a huge rock overlooking the lake. Jane stopped, and looked excitedly at the group before plopping herself down on the edge of the rock with her sketchpad. Jesse sat down next to her, watching her begin to draw. Trent and Daria just stood, unsure how to proceed. Without turning around, Jane answered their question.  
  
"You two go on ahead, we'll catch up."  
  
"Hey Jesse, why don't you come with us?"  
  
"Aw, man, why? My feet hurt."  
  
Jane turned on Trent. "Let him stay." She glared. "You can't keep us from being alone together forever." Her face changed into a grin. "Plus, who will protect me from the bears and other woodland creatures? Take a hike, Trent."  
  
Trent sighed in frustration and turned towards Daria. "You up for it?"  
  
"Uh, sure, I guess." She began to blush. "It's better than watching Jane draw- that's what I do for the other ninety percent of my life."  
  
"And who could resist *your* company, Trent?" Jane said, obviously still slightly peeved at him for being so protective.  
  
He frowned at Jane, still miffed about things in general and took off down the trail. Daria looked at Jane crossly and folded her arms, then walked after Trent. She knew Jane was just being 'Jane,' but it bothered her that she would blatantly hurt her brother's feelings. It was one thing to do it to Quinn, she obviously didn't have any feelings to hurt. But Trent didn't deserve it. He had to be having a hard time of it. She knew he was living his dream and all, but somewhere in there it had to be depressing to know that at the same time he looked (and acted) just like a slacker townie. Daria sighed. At least she was sure now that her feelings for Trent weren't just skin deep.  
  
There was just something about him that she found intriguing. Trent had more courage than she would ever have, more drive, more. . . of a purpose. He knew what he wanted to do in life, and even if it was just a pipe dream, he kept at it because he wanted it that much. Daria had never wanted anything that much in her whole life. And perhaps he was a slacker to some extent, but he had morals. Trent was a good person. He watched out for Jane, and was probably there for her more than the rest of her family- even when she did insult him. Her big brother had faith in her and her dreams, too, and it showed. Daria supposed there was some part of her that wished that she had at least one connection like that with someone in her family. Someone to be there for her, unconditionally. 


	4. Chapter 4

Trent abruptly turned to Daria when they came to a clearing in the trail.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Daria just looked blankly at him. "Uh, hey."  
  
"Can we talk?"  
  
She stared at him, eyes widening. "About what?"  
  
"I don't care. We can keep walking, but we have to talk. The silence is getting to me. Too many things going on in my head that I can't figure out."  
  
"Oh," Daria said, a little taken aback. This was the most un-relaxed Trent had ever sounded. "Sure."  
  
He turned around and they kept walking. "Uh. . . So. . . How's life, Daria?"  
  
"I'm out of high school- that makes it vastly better than it was a month and a half ago."  
  
"Yeah. High school sucked."  
  
Silence.  
  
"What happened to Tom?"  
  
"We broke up."  
  
"Oh. You want to talk about it?"  
  
"Not really." She got an unusually nasty scrape on her leg and winced. "What happened to Monique?"  
  
"She moved to New York. We had broken up, too."  
  
"You want to talk about it?"  
  
Trent momentarily turned his head to quirk a smile at Daria. "Not really."  
  
"Thought so."  
  
More silence.  
  
"How's the band?"  
  
"Same as usual. Little gigs, little crowds, but mostly our own music. And Max seems to be getting better on the set."  
  
"That's good. Pretty soon you'll be able to give him *two* sticks."  
  
Trent chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, but I bet he could beat your sister in Trivial Pursuit any day."  
  
"Unless she pulled out the 'Cosmopolitan' edition. Then we'd all go down in flames."  
  
Trent shuddered at the thought of a 'Cosmo' version of Trivial Pursuit.  
  
"How's your family?"  
  
"Neurotic as always. Yours?"  
  
"Wouldn't know, haven't seen them in months. Jane seems to be okay." The wheels in his mind turned a little quicker. "Is Jane okay?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Is she. . . happy? Things are a lot more complicated from when she was 10 and I was 15. I guess we don't talk about everything anymore. She got over the thing with Tom, right?"  
  
"Yeah." Daria felt a returning wave of guilt wash over her. "Lucky for me. I'd be pretty lost without her, actually. Quinn might be dead by now if Jane wasn't around."  
  
"And that's a good thing?"  
  
"For Quinn it is. Anyway, I'd say Jane's doing fairly well.  
  
"Good. She deserves it."  
  
The walked in silence for a moment as Daria mulled over her earlier thoughts of Trent. They stopped when they came to a big clearing in the trees, and the path became more rocky. Ahead of them, there was what looked like the side of a hill, minus any vegetation. Just rocks- big rocks, small rocks, medium rocks; all leading steeply down to the lake. There was a narrow path going across them to the other side, and they crunched their way slowly towards the middle of it. Trent and Daria stood and looked down at the lake, then both instinctively began to pick up good sized rocks and tried to chuck them into the water.  
  
Daria had been right, the sun had showed up and now it was a great deal warmer. She sat down on a boulder behind them and took off her jacket, casually watching Trent throw rocks. Feeling rather pleased with herself for not completely choking up earlier, managing to have a semi- normal conversation with the only guy able to leave her speechless, she leaned back on the rock and closed her eyes, rejoicing in the warmth of the sun. Eventually Trent copied her.  
  
"This is nice," Daria said.  
  
"Yeah. I wonder what Janey and Jesse are up to. . ." Trent tried to push those thoughts out of his mind.  
  
"Why do you care so much? It didn't used to bother you."  
  
Trent's eyebrows inadvertently furrowed. "I don't know." He paused. Why did he care so much? For a while there, Jane and Jesse had almost been a couple- he was sure they'd already made-out a few times. Why did it bother him now? "That's a good question."  
  
"You know she's not gonna do anything stupid. I don't think."  
  
"I know. It just bothers me."  
  
Daria just waited for more explanation.  
  
"We're such slackers. Janey deserves better than that."  
  
"*Now* you're cracking down on slackers?" She tried to subdue his worries. "You like Jesse, right? I mean, he is your best friend; he's got to have some redeeming qualities."  
  
"Yeah. He's a good guy. I just. . . things have been kind of tense with me and Janey lately."  
  
"You don't say."  
  
He turned to glare at her, but her eyes were still closed. He sighed and rested his head back down. "She's all grown up, now. Going to college."  
  
"And you won't be able to take care of her anymore."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"So you're becoming over-protective in the last few months you've got with her, consequentially putting unneeded stress on the relationship."  
  
"You saying I should lay off?"  
  
"I'm saying you should sort out your reasons for not wanting her to be with Jesse."  
  
"Well. . ." He tried hard to come up with some stuff that would justify his actions. "He is a slacker."  
  
"That's one semi-legitimate reason. Let's go for two."  
  
Trent stood up and began to throw rocks again as he thought.  
  
"Um. They don't have much in common."  
  
"Shouldn't you let them decide that?"  
  
It was about this time that both Daria and Trent realized they were having an actual conversation. That was something that hadn't happened since that trip to Alternapalooza. Trent thought it was cool to finally have another friend who could actually speak in coherent sentences. Daria was undoubtedly smarter than him- but she didn't seem condescending, she just seemed like she actually cared what he thought and said, which was nice for a change. Daria, on the other hand, tried not to linger on the fact that this was the longest conversation she had ever had with Trent; and the fact that she wasn't acting like a complete idiot. If she thought about it too much, surely the spell would be broken and she would turn into a bumbling idiot as usual.  
  
"Jesse could get easily distracted by other girls. . . You know, like ones that hang out after our shows."  
  
"Does he usually go for girls like that?"  
  
"Well. . . . not really. But sometimes."  
  
He threw a really big rock that made it to the lake with a very nice splash.  
  
"He's a lot older than her."  
  
"Do you think that's a bad thing?"  
  
"I don't know. I mean, she is eighteen now. And out of high school. It seems like the age gap should bother me, but it doesn't."  
  
"Well, that's good." Daria felt her emotions cringe and rejoice simultaneously at his previous statement. It was if her excuse for Trent not liking her had been blown away- meaning she really was just some unattractive loser. But it also opened the door to the idea that he could like her now- if she could figure out how to be something other than an unattractive brain.  
  
"Maybe I'm jealous."  
  
That brought Daria out of her reverie. "Huh?"  
  
"I haven't had a girlfriend since me and Monique broke up in November." He sighed and sat down. "I guess I'm lonely." Laying back on the rock with his hands behind his head he decided to spill his guts. It'd been a while since he'd had anyone interested enough to listen, and letting some stuff out would be good for him. "Jesse always gets the girls. He's the hunk. I'm just the skinny dude with holes in his pants."  
  
Daria turned to face Trent, unsure how to console him. Luckily he spoke again before she had a chance to reply.  
  
"I guess I don't think it's fair that Jesse can have any girl he wants, and then he goes after my sister. . . No girls seem really interested in me. They'll hang out after a concert and fool around with me- but that's just the band thing. After that I never see them again. 'Oh, it's lonely at the top.'"  
  
Daria smiled a tiny bit. "I don't think you're quite at the summit of stardom, yet, Trent."  
  
He grinned at her. "Just give it time, Daria- give it time." Then his mood and expression retreated to their melancholy state.  
  
Daria sat down on a rock facing him. "I'm not really sure how to . . . console you, or anything Trent, but. . ."  
  
"It's alright- it's just good to have somebody listen. It's not like I could really talk about this with Jesse."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. But, for what it's worth, I don't think you're just the skinny dude with holes in his pants." She blushed furiously and stared at the ground. "I mean, I'd pick you over Jesse in a heartbeat." 'Holy shit,' she thought. 'Did I just say that?'  
  
"Thanks. I appreciate it."  
  
They heard crunching from the trail behind them. Jane and Jesse walked up.  
  
"Yo." She looked at the pair of them. "We hike all this way to find the two of you just 'lounging' around? What kind of trail demons are you pretending to be?"  
  
Trent closed his eyes. "Sleepy ones."  
  
Jane quickly ran over to him and pulled him up. "Oh no you don't." She got him up and looking semi-alert, then turned to Daria and Jesse. "C'mon, let's get going- if we get back soon enough, it'll still be warm enough to go swimming!"  
  
"Yeah!" Jesse said.  
  
Trent handed Daria her jacket from off the rock and the four of them took one more look over the lake before heading down the other side of the trail. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Why, Jane? Why? I don't make you run around naked at school- which is the only thing that might have the same embarrassment value to you as this does to me- do I?"  
  
"No, but even if you did, I'd probably start out uncomfortable, then enjoy it- especially when all the guys ended up drooling and feeling stupid that they had never noticed my astounding beauty and radiance before."  
  
"Yeah, but I don't think Trent's gonna start drooling. I could wade in with my skirt on. Wouldn't that be enough?"  
  
"No. I want full exposure. Kinda." Her voice softened, knowing that even though Daria played it off with sarcasm, she probably really was freaked about Trent seeing in her in a swimsuit. "Besides Daria, you haven't got anything to be ashamed of. You know you basically look like Quinn underneath all those clothes. It's the only way anyone could ever tell you were related."  
  
"This is one I'm not going to win, huh?"  
  
"Nope. Get suited up for action, Private Morgendorffer."  
  
"Fine," Daria grumbled as she crawled back out of the tent and reluctantly put on her one piece black bathing suit. She stumbled back out to find Jane, clad in a bright orange two piece suit with a halter top and boy shorts, digging for sunscreen in the trunk.  
  
The boys came out of the woods wearing swimming attire, and they all looked at Jane. She eventually came up with two bottle of sunscreen and handed one to Daria. Then she looked at Jesse. "C'mere," she grinned, "lemme get your back for you."  
  
Trent looked at them, then at the ground- then at Daria, who was rubbing sunscreen on her arms and looking back at him with something close to sympathy. He sighed and held out his hand. "Here, I'll get your back." She squeezed a tiny amount into his hand. "More. You don't want to burn. Burning sucks." She grunted an answer and squeezed too much into his hand then turned around and pulled her hair over her shoulders.  
  
Daria shuddered when he started to rub the sunscreen on her back. "Cold!" she yelped, then relaxed again and let him rub her back while she retreated to a more blissful state of mind. It took him a really long time to rub in all the excess sunscreen- which Daria didn't mind a bit. He finally finished and she turned around to face his back, then squeezed sunscreen directly onto his back- making him shiver, too.  
  
"Shit, that is cold."  
  
She rubbed him down, blushing furiously, and then they both put some on their arms, legs, and face. Trent finished before her and looked over to see her rubbing some on her legs.  
  
"Hey," he said, "you're bleeding."  
  
"I know."  
  
There were scratches all over her legs, and about five of them were bleeding. "You want a band-aid or something?"  
  
"I'll be fine. As long as they don't attract the leeches."  
  
"Okay." He stood up, about to follow Jane and Jesse into the water, when something hit him. "Wait," he turned back to Daria, "leeches?"  
  
"Yeah. You know, those black slimy things that attach themselves to your skin then suck your blood out until they get too fat to hang on to your skin any more?"  
  
Trent got a look of terror on his face that Daria had never seen before. "It's okay. There might not be any in this lake."  
  
He didn't look any better.  
  
"It'll be fine. Really."  
  
Trent mustered his courage, knowing it was stupid to be scared of something as small as leeches. He calmed down, and headed back towards the lake.  
  
Daria watched him go towards the lake, then sighed and removed her glasses. Last time she went swimming in a lake she had lost her glasses completely in the muck at the bottom of the lake; not an incident she felt like reliving, so she stood up, and attempted to adjust to her new blurry vision. She walked forward a few small steps. Seemed to be okay, so she walked a little more normally- keeping her eyes on the lake ahead of her. She was about ten feet from the lake when she stepped on a sharp rock, catching her off balance as she went tumbling to the ground with a small shout.  
  
Trent turned at the sound to find Daria curled on the ground in a ball- reminiscent of her in the end of his dream. He shook his head to clear it of that image and walked over to her. "You alright?"  
  
"Yeah- I just lost my balance."  
  
He offered her his hand, but it seemed like she didn't see it. She just looked past it towards the lake, squinting. It was then that he realized she wasn't wearing her glasses. "You must have pretty bad vision, huh?" He reached down, picked up her hand, and helped her up.  
  
"Uh, yeah," she said, blushing. "I never take off my glasses. But last time I went swimming in a lake I lost them completely."  
  
"I see." He held onto her hand with his right and took her elbow in his left and led her down to the lake. "Well, once you get in the water- you won't have to worry so much about balance."  
  
"Yo! You guys ever gonna get your bony butts in here?" Jane called from the lake.  
  
Trent continued to steady Daria until they were up to their chests in the water, which was surprisingly warm. The bottom of the lake was gravel for a while, but soon turned into typical lake muck, and they swam out to where Jane and Jesse were.  
  
"Aww, now that wasn't so bad, now was it, Daria?" Jane asked, winking at her friend before realizing there was no way Daria would be able to see her wink.  
  
"I'm not dead yet, if that's what you mean."  
  
"Good. That means you can play a game. Anyone else who has escaped death is also included. So, bat girl," she said, swimming very near to Daria, "You're it." Quickly she swam away, laughing maniacally as Daria stayed in the same spot.  
  
"What makes you think I'm gonna play this game?"  
  
She swam back towards them, circling the group and making sure Daria could see and hear her as she went up to Trent and began to whisper in his ear. Daria's eyes went wide, and she lunged towards Jane, who quickly swam away. Daria chased her, and finally nicked her foot as Jane tried to splash into her face.  
  
"Fine. Now you're it."  
  
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"  
  
Daria just swam back towards Trent and Jesse, who were still watching them in amusement. Jane dived under the water and came up right behind her brother, grabbing him around the chest and pulling him under the water. When they came up, grappling in a playful sibling type way, she managed to yelp out that he was now it- and he lay off, going after Jesse next. Daria and Jane watched them swim away, heading slowly towards the center of the lake.  
  
"So, my vision challenged friend, how are things between you and Trent?"  
  
"Well, after we spent the entire afternoon cuddling and making-out, we were planning on getting a little action in before dinner, but somebody just *had* to go swimming. And I was this close," she held up her fingers indicating about an inch, "to getting him to pop the question."  
  
"He was gonna ask you if you had herpes? Really?"  
  
"You know how perceptive he is. I just couldn't hide it."  
  
Jane laughed at Daria, who seemed to be in an okay mood. Better to have Daria joking about Trent than biting her head off about it.  
  
"You two seemed to be getting pretty cozy and buddy-buddy a couple of times back there."  
  
"As much as I like him, he's also my friend, Jane. We talked for a while. It was nice."  
  
"I bet it was."  
  
Daria glared at her, getting tire of the game. "What's with you and Jesse?"  
  
"I just wanna have some fun before I go off to college, Daria, what's wrong with that?"  
  
"Nothing, I guess. It's just making Trent go apeshit."  
  
"I know," she said, still sounding a little peeved. "He could afford to go a little apeshit once in a while, ya know?"  
  
"At least he's awake."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Suddenly they heard Trent shouting at them. "Watch out! He's comin' up fast!"  
  
They looked around frantically for Jesse, not seeing him anywhere.  
  
"Damn," Jane said, "this is just like Jaws. . ." Then she suddenly disappeared beneath the water. She came up, kicking and gasping for breath; Jesse came up behind her laughing. "Bastardo!" She yelled, swimming after him.  
  
Trent swam up to Daria, who was attempting to figure out how far from shore they were. "Hey, you wanna head back? I'm getting tired of this treading water stuff." 


	6. Chapter 6

When they got up to walking depth, Daria carefully walked up to the picnic table and retrieved her glasses. When she got back, Trent was bent over, staring into the shallow water. He looked up at her when she came near.  
  
"There's little fishes!"  
  
Daria would have made a sarcastic comment, but the enormous grin on Trent's face dissuaded her. Apparently he hadn't been to very many lakes. He began to stoop down, trying to catch them, with the determination of an eight year old. Daria watched him fail to catch a fish eleven times before speaking up. "Would you like some help?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Daria turned without a word and went back up to the camp site- grabbing one of the hot chocolate mugs. She handed him the mug.  
  
"Oh, thanks Daria."  
  
She watched him try and catch fish for a while longer, before getting caught up in it herself. When Jesse and Jane came up, both Trent and Daria were squatting in the water, trying to herd fish into the cup. Before Jane could comment, Trent jumped up, holding one hand over the cup.  
  
"We got one!" Trent turned around to find Jane and his best friend looking at him like he was nuts. "There are fish!" He carefully held out his cup for them to see. Daria was already on her way to get the other cups.  
  
She handed one to Jane. "Get going, we've got a lot of these to catch if we want anything decent for dinner."  
  
"Twisted. But not as twisted as that," she said, indicating to her brother- who was now whispering to his fish. "Something tells me he's not going to let you cook that one." They watched, captivated by the very unusual image of Trent acting like a four year old girl talking to her dolly. Eventually all three of them were watching Trent, and he finally noticed and looked up at them.  
  
"What?"  
  
His observers shrugged and returned to the task of trying to catch more fish. Trent sat down with his fish, spreading his legs out in the shallow water, sticking his finger in the cup and deciding what to name him. Milt? That might be okay. 'Zammer' was kind of a cool name, too.  
  
Daria and Jane were transferring fish to a collective cup, a good half an hour's work, when they were hit with water and the sound of high- pitched, terror-driven screams.  
  
"LEECHES!" Trent ran to Daria, completely hysterical, pulling her onto shore. "Get 'em off!!!! Get 'em off me!!!!" He was jumping and twisting to look at the three black lines that were stuck to the back of his legs. Jane was doubled over in hysterical laughter, and Jesse was laughing heartily. But Trent didn't seem to notice in his current state.  
  
"Trent, you have to hold still." This was proving a very difficult task for Trent, he kept shuddering and muttering obscenities.  
  
"Get them OFF!"  
  
She stood up and faced him. "You're not supposed to pull them off. Do you have any salt?"  
  
"Huh? Daria, just get them off!" The terror had yet to vacate his face.  
  
Daria got an idea, and walked to the car- Trent right behind her. As she checked the glove compartment for salt packets, she thought of something. "Um, Trent, you might want to check under your shorts to see if there are more of them."  
  
As she located a very, very old package of salt from Burger King, she heard more shrieking from behind her.  
  
"EWWW! DARIA!!!"  
  
As she tried to shake the thought of how much Trent sounded like her sister when he screamed, Daria turned to find him shifting his weight and jumping, holding his shorts bunched up around his butt. There were two on his upper left thigh.  
  
"Relax, Trent." He continued to be jumpy. She emulated her mother's stern face. "TRENT. RELAX."  
  
That seemed to get through, and his jumpiness became subdued. Daria kneeled in front of him, trying not to think of how this looked from Jane's point of view. She had never actually had to get leeches off of someone before, but this was the only idea she had. Daria carefully poured the salt into her left palm, then licked her right index finger and got some salt on it. She dabbed some onto the head of the leech farthest up on Trent's leg, watching in awe as it actually seemed to shrivel and writhe under the salt. She looked up at Trent, who was looking at the sky, squeezing his eyes shut and singing something under his breath, trying to keep himself distracted.  
  
"It's working."  
  
"Good. Make it work FASTER."  
  
Daria gingerly took hold of the slimy parasite and gently pulled it off of Trent's leg, dropping it next to her on the ground. She quickly removed the other one. "Turn around." She saw why Trent had his shorts pulled up so high now. There was a really huge leech attached to the bottom of his ass. Daria attempted to choke back a laugh, without success. Normally she would have raised her eyebrow and made a sarcastic comment, enjoying the predicament from an aloof observer position. But something about the way she was nervous and weird-acting around Trent, or something about the way he had been acting like a six year old version of himself for the past hour. . . aloofness was completely past her. Daria found herself laughing out loud, uncontrollably.  
  
"It's NOT funny, Daria. GET IT OFF."  
  
Daria tried her hardest to stop laughing, but the thing was literally hanging off the bottom of his butt. Eventually she quieted herself and blushed, preparing to remove the source of her laughter from the source of her blush. Daria eventually removed the thing, only to begin laughing again. "Oh, it left you a little kiss," she muttered, practically giggling.  
  
"Huh?" Trent craned his neck and stretched trying to see, eventually giving up and looking at Daria, who was lying on the ground laughing. He had never seen her laugh like that before. But dammit, there were still black things attached to him, sucking his blood!  
  
"Daria!"  
  
She managed to control her laughter and quickly removed the other leeches, much to Trent's relief. He let go of his shorts and rubbed his legs till he felt less. . . creeped out? "I'm okay!" He said, standing up.  
  
"I told you you'd be fine," Daria said.  
  
In an unexpected wave of gratitude, Trent grabbed Daria in a hug. "Thank you."  
  
"Uh," she managed to pat his back though her shyness returned. "You're welcome." Her breath quickened and she felt her cheeks redden as Trent squeezed her tightly into his bare chest before letting her go.  
  
Trent smiled at Daria, then turned to the lake, where Jane and Jesse were making out. His eyebrows shot up, and he turned back to Daria. "I think I'm done swimming."  
  
"Yeah, me too," she replied. Daria headed back into the tent after brushing the dirt off her and changed back into her normal clothes. She found a brush and took it outside with her, trying to brush out the tangles and lake water. Trent was starting a fire.  
  
"Let's make dinner," he said.  
  
"Okay," Daria replied, glancing at Jesse and Jane, who were still lip- locked at the edge of the lake. "Get a room, Jane!" Jane just glared at her from over Jesse's shoulder, then pushed Jesse into the woods. "That wasn't really what I meant. . ." Daria mumbled.  
  
Trent just looked on impassively, suddenly no longer bothered by her sister's actions. 


	7. Chapter 7

"Jesse, man- food's ready!" Trent called, and predictably, Jesse came a runnin'. Jane stalked out of the woods behind him and into the tent to get changed. Trent handed Jesse a stick with a hotdog on it, a bag of potato chips, and two cans of soda.  
  
"Thanks, man," Jesse said, already a third of the way through the potato chips. Jane re-appeared, pants in lieu of her gray shorts, and the four sat and had dinner around the campfire.  
  
Jane noticed with amusement and satisfaction the behavior of her best friend and her brother. Over the course of their "meal," aka more hotdogs, chips, soda, and lots of marshmallows and s'mores, then some licorice Trent had found in the car, their actions kept catching her attention. Trent's actions and Daria's responses, more like. He directed more than half of his comments to Daria, and occasionally reached over and touched her; a hand on her shoulder, pulling her hand back from the fire. Daria had blushed through the entire meal, but didn't 'eep' or go wide-eyed when Trent touched her. They were subtle, but it was obvious to Jane that there now was something there that wasn't there before. 'Shit,' she thought, 'did my thoughts just come out in Disney lyrics? There is something terribly wrong with that.'  
  
When the full realization of the situation hit her, Jane laughed out loud.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, nothing. I just figured something out." The others looked at her strangely. She tried to concentrate on the marshmallow at the end of her stick. Damn. Trent was 'attracted' to Daria! Jane was pretty sure that *he* hadn't realized it yet- but it was still true. He'd seen how he first acted around Monique, before he ever realized her liked her. . . God. She couldn't believe this was happening. Daria had liked him for so long, she had given up all hope- she just enjoyed putting her friend in embarrassing situations. But apparently it had worked.  
  
"Uh, Jane?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"That marshmallow was done a long time ago. Not to mention that you will now be requiring a new roasting stick," Daria said, pointing to the twig in her hand. It was missing about five inches off the end that had slowly burned off while she was in thought.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right, amiga. Why don't you come help me find one?" she asked, winking.  
  
Daria looked at her, pondering, then got up and followed Jane into the woods, grabbing a flashlight on the way.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, nothing."  
  
Daria stopped and shined the light straight in her eyes. "Talk, Lane."  
  
Jane stepped up to Daria and pulled the flashlight down. "I've just noticed something. A little attraction building. . ."  
  
"Just stop it, Jane. We know I like Trent. This is not news. Now can you pick a stick so we can get back to the fire?"  
  
"Not you, Trent."  
  
"Trent what?"  
  
"Trent likes you."  
  
Daria stopped, looked at Jane, then slowly turned and walked away without a word. She was tired of this shit. She was finally coming to terms with just being friends with Trent, and she didn't need the other Lane screwing everything up.  
  
"Daria, come back," Jane called after her. "I mean it."  
  
Daria turned and marched angrily up to her best friend. "Jane, listen. I can't take your meddling anymore. I really am starting some kind of . . . friendship with Trent and I'd appreciate you not butting in." She stared at Jane coldly.  
  
"I'm not trying to butt in this time, honest. I just thought you should know that it seems like something new is there."  
  
Daria's shoulders slumped and she handed Jane the flashlight. "Fine," she said, and walk back to the campfire.  
  
Jane sighed and searched in earnest for a new stick. She now had more appreciation for the boy who cried wolf.  
  
Despite her earnest reasonings and cold dismissal of her best friend, a corner of Daria's brain now ticked with the notion that maybe, just maybe, after years of blushing and stammering in front of him, Trent was starting to take a hint. She studied his eyes when he spoke to her, trying to pull some hidden meaning out of them.  
  
"Where's Janey?"  
  
"I'm here," she said, emerging from the woods.  
  
"Oh. Good. . . didn't want you to be eaten by a bear or anything." He sat up, yawning- they had talked late into the night and he was ready to be warm. Trent put his hand on Daria's shoulder to get her attention, "hey," he asked, "you done with that?" He pointed to her hot chocolate mug and she handed it back to him, face reddened by the fire.  
  
"Yeah, thanks Trent." She watched him as he took everyone's cups back to the picnic table, then stood up and started brushing off the blankets Trent and Jesse had used the night before, throwing them in the tent. Jane came and watched.  
  
As Jesse and Trent came up behind her, she launched her great warmth plan. "I say we split the blankets again, make two big beds. That way we get twice as many blankets- including more big thick ones; all of the sleeping bags can be zipped all the way open."  
  
Her companions shivered and nodded in agreement, and Daria and Jane stumbled into the tent to rearrange the blankets. When they had it all lay out, they quickly changed into sleeping clothes, then got out so the boys could change.  
  
"Your turn," Jane said.  
  
"To do what?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Change into sleeping clothes." She realized this was a stupid idea as the boys stared back at her blankly.  
  
"Sleeping clothes?" Trent asked.  
  
"Yes, pajamas and such. Nevermind." Jane rolled her eyes and took off towards the lake to get water to put the fire out with, Jesse close at her heels.  
  
Daria looked at Trent for a moment, then her and Jane retrieved their toothbrushes, and the extra toothbrushes they had brought for Trent and Jesse.  
  
Jane handed a toothbrush to her brother.  
  
"Thanks, Janey."  
  
"Anything to save myself from the pungent aroma those hotdogs would have afforded me in the morning when I woke up within 100 feet of you two."  
  
After they had finished brushing their teeth, Daria climbed into the tent and began to tuck herself in next to the wall when Jane started shoving her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Move it, Morgendorffer. Big brother commands that Jesse and I sleep on opposite sides of the tent, and so we shall," Jane said, pointing Jesse into the other wall, "scooch."  
  
Trent was zipping up the tent door when he looked back at Daria. "It's ok, I don't bite. If I start snoring just slap me upside the head or something."  
  
It was pitch black by now, so no one could see Daria blushing, yet again. "Oh, get over it," she told herself. She tucked herself into the blankets as tightly as possibly, already infinitely warmer than she had been when she woke up that morning, mildly aware of all the movements of the non-female body next to her.  
  
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To all of you waiting patiently, IM SORRY. Deeply apologetic. Just had awful writer's block. Next chapter soon.  
  
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	8. Chapter 8

She wasn't sure what time it is. Or where she was. Daria was only aware of the fact of how damn cold it was. Slowly her brain regained function, and she looked blurrily around, recognizing that she was still on that tedious camping trip. She looked down at herself, which was covered in naught but a t-shirt and shorts. Where were her blankets? No wonder she was freezing. Hearing a rustling on her left, Daria turned to see Jane, wrapped tightly in a cocoon of blankets. Her blankets, dammit. Daria growled at the encased blanket thief and grabbed the edge of a blanket, pulling as hard as she could.  
  
Jane groaned and rolled the opposite direction, the dead weight winning over Daria's groggy strength. She knew she wouldn't be able to unwrap anything off of Jane, and the girl was even harder to rouse than her brother. Turning on her other side and hugging her legs to her to keep warm, Daria looked at Trent. Her mouth opened and formed a silent "eep" when she saw that his eyes were open.  
  
Trent hadn't slept very well, as Jesse kept kicking him in his sleep. Then he heard rustling next to him, sounds of struggle, and an angry moan. Risking it, he slowly opened his eyes. It took him a moment to realize he was looking at Daria's back. Then, she turned and they were looking at each other. Trent didn't really understand what was going on. He stared back a Daria for a while, before his eyes wandered down her face and to her shoulders. There was something odd about this situation, but he didn't know what it was. . . then he caught Daria shiver. Oh!  
  
"You have no blankets."  
  
Daria just chattered her teeth at him, unsure how to reply.  
  
Trent watched Daria for a few more moments, his brain slowly trying to figure out what to do. Then he turned on his back and attempted to pull blankets towards him. He had about as much luck as Daria. Turning back on his side facing her he gave his blankets one last futile yank, then slid backwards next to his friend to try and make room for Daria under the blankets.  
  
Immensely grateful, Daria slid underneath the covers, only to find they didn't really do the job; only half covering her. She turned on her side, away from Trent and tried to pull the blankets around her. Her leg brushed against warm skin as she tried to settle in. Why wasn't Trent wearing pants??? As she realized she could literally feel heat radiating from his direction she decided he must have kicked them off because he had gotten too hot under all the blankets.  
  
Trent found Daria's arm and rubbed it with his hand, trying to warm her up. It was like inviting a giant ice block to come lay next to you. When her leg brushed up against his, reminding him that he was no longer wearing pants, he had pulled back in shock of the iciness of her skin. He put his arm around her stomach and pulled her into him, spooning her legs.  
  
Daria shivered again, this time not from the temperature. She took a deep breath, trying to distance herself from the awkward, but not un- enjoyable, position she was in. Her arms were tucked up next to her chest, holding the edge of the blanket, and she could feel Trent's hot breath on the back of her head. Their bodies were completely flushed, and she could feel every breath he took move his stomach into the small of her back. Especially when he laughed, which he was doing now.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Never thought I'd be spooning you, Daria."  
  
Daria's brain scolded her again for getting her hopes up. "Oh," she said flatly, coming to terms for the ninth time that day that Trent would never see her as anything more than his friend. But she could live with that. It was obvious that she would always like him, but being friends was better than nothing, right?  
  
Trent pulled her closer into him again and closed his eyes, drifting off into unconsciousness.  
  
Daria sighed and let her eyelids fall closed, hoping she would be able to sleep. She wondered idly what Trent was thinking about, or dreaming about. She couldn't ever really tell if there was more going on there than it looked. There had to be, right? Smiling to herself, she reminded herself that not everyone was smart in the same ways. Maybe Trent's verbal quips weren't quite up to her speed, but then, who's were? And he may not be smart in that bookish kind of way that she was known for, but he seemed to have an internal, instinctive intelligence that kept him out of serious trouble. Daria didn't think she could really be attracted to anyone who was seriously as slow as Trent sometimes appeared, so she trusted her instincts that there was more to Trent than met the eye.  
  
Trent looked about him, glad to be rid of Daria/Quinn. Turning around, he saw Daria standing behind him, looking up at him, a normal expressionless look about her. But when he picked her up in his hand and held her up to his face, she looked puzzled.  
  
"What?" she asked, crossing her miniscule arms across her chest.  
  
"You're so small!" he said in amazement  
  
"Don't you like me small?"  
  
"Uh," he didn't know how to answer that. "I guess you're ok small, but its weird."  
  
"You made me this size."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Daria just shook her head at him in disappointment, then sat down cross-legged in the palm of his hand, picking at the hem of her skirt and ignoring him in general.  
  
Trent pondered. She was still Daria, just tiny Daria. He should be okay with that, right? But why had he made her tiny? He liked her when she was normal size; he didn't have to pick her up to talk to her.  
  
"But if you stay this size, I might lose you," he said finally.  
  
Daria looked up from picking at her shoelaces. "Do you really want me to be bigger?"  
  
Trent looked back into her tiny face blankly.  
  
"If you make me big, you'll never be able to make me small again."  
  
"Um, okay."  
  
"You're sure about this? You don't like being able to just put me in your pocket and just take me out when you want a chat?"  
  
"Uh," he was still baffled, "talking with you is cool. But it be better if you were bigger, then I could, like, see you when I was talking to you."  
  
She stared at him again and he nodded his head sincerely, trying to convince her. "You'd look hot bigger," he said without thinking about it. Daria stared at him a moment longer, then turned around in his palm and pulled his index finger up, then bent down and kissed it.  
  
"Better?"  
  
Trent whirled around to find Daria now behind him, normal size, but dressed as a Victoria's secret model. His mouth dropped, then he smirked and said, "See? I told you." He took her hand and they walked towards a house surrounded by a field that had appeared in the distance. They spent the rest of the afternoon together, talking and joking. At one point they attempted to make homemade pizza, but it burnt to a crisp. At first, Daria was angry but he'd told her it was okay, that he wasn't really hungry, and that they could find something else to do.  
  
The looked outside, debating whether or not to wander into the great outdoors. Instead they climbed on the roof with a blanket and looked at the stars. Trent told Daria about his life, how he still wanted to make it big, but he kept on having doubts. How he wished people would stop thinking he was just a low-life slacker, but at the same time he felt like he shouldn't care what people thought- part of the reason he was so lazy. Like if he actually did something, he'd be betraying himself and his ideals.  
  
Daria listened intently, then just smiled a tiny smile and told him that he should do what felt right to him, and that she'd still be his friend no matter what. He smiled back at her, then nestled up next to her, trying to keep her warm. Trent put his arm around her and pulled her close, burying his face in her hair and rubbing her stomach delicately with his hand.  
  
When Daria put her hand on top of his and hugged it tightly to her chest, Trent opened his eyes again, lifting his head. He was no longer on top of a roof with Daria in her underwear. Instead, he was in a tent with Daria in her nightshirt. He smiled and put his head back down, deeply breathing in that distinctly Daria aroma and falling back asleep. 


End file.
